COP 17 - IGU Panel on Natural Gas and a Low-Carbon Economy

Event Date:

December 4, 2011 - 4:40pm

Location:

Protea Hotel Edward, Durban, South Africa

At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, informally known as the Earth Summit, 154 countries signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since 1995, the parties to the convention have met annually in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to evaluate their progress in combating climate change. This year’s event, COP 17, will bring government representatives, international organizations, and civil society leaders to Durban, South Africa. Here, parties will discuss and work to advance the implementation of the Convention and 1997’s Kyoto Protocol, along with various COP action plans implemented in previous years.

On Sunday, December 4th, from 4:40 to 5:45 pm, the International Gas Union (IGU) will host a panel on the role natural gas will play in mitigating climate change, powering a low-carbon economy, and facilitating universal access to energy. Worldwatch’s Saya Kitasei, a Sustainable Energy Fellow, will draw upon past research to report on potential synergies between natural gas and renewable energy in the power sector, as well as life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from natural-gas-fired electricity.